CULTIVATION OF COTTON

by the natives in their contests with the Russians.
A man on horseback, or a camel, could be completely
hidden by them.
Next to the arrival of the Russians themselves no
event has brought so many changes into the life of
the Sarts as the introduction of American cotton;
whether it will prove a blessing or a curse it yet
remains to be seen. Turkestan has grown cotton
from time immemorial; the seeds were brought in
the first place from India, and the quality of their
cotton is the same as that now produced in India.
It was General Kaufmann, the first Governor-
General, who, in his efforts for the good of the
land, introduced seed from America. Native seed
is now grown only in Bokhara I and Samarkand; its
pods do not open so widely as those produced by
American   seed, and   consequently cause double
labour, having to be picked from the shrub before
the cotton can be taken out; besides which the
quality  of the cotton   is less elastic.  Certain
Moscow capitalists, hearing of the splendid crops
that American seed was yielding, and being fully
aware that labour was far cheaper in Central Asia
than in America, soon turned their attention to the
I The grower of American cotton has difficulties to contend
with from which the grower of Bokharan cotton is exempt. The
pod, opening widely as it does of its own accord, induces sparrows
and mice to steal its wool for their nests. I heard of one case
where considerable loss was sustained owing to those troublesome
visitors. As for the sparrows, they come in clouds like locusts.